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Biographical Note

Tom has been a professor of Environmental Studies at Prescott College, in Prescott, Arizona for over twenty years, where he teaches natural history, conservation biology, and a variety of courses that integrate natural science, humanities, public policy, and social justice concerns. He co-founded the North Cascades Institute, and is founding President of the Natural History Network. He's worked as a field ecologist in Alaska, Maine, the Gulf of California, Mexico, and throughout the Southwest.

Publication Types

Non-Fiction, Scholastic

Latest Publication

Publication Excerpt

"Natural history and mindfulness are two surfaces of the same leaf, a seamless merging of attentiveness outward and inward, toward the interwoven realms of nature and psyche. For some people, the window is clearer looking outward; for others, it’s easier to look within. But regardless what is being attended, the practice of mindful attention is very much the same, and the two practices are fully complementary."
--from The Way of Natural History

"Homo sapiens wounds the world with greater ferocity than any other being. Yet at the heart of our nature dwells a psyche with two capacities. We are wired not just for destruction, but for healing, grace, and compassion. From this deeply rooted potential, then—evident in the tenderness of a parent for child, the offering of food to the homeless, or the inclination to stare into the throat of a wildflower for the simple sensation of beauty—we can take heart and justly feel hope. Remembering that our bodies are built of clear water, borrowed from the fluid of earth, is a place to start."
--from Desert Wetlands

"There is no substitute for time spent in the canyons, on the slickrock. Listening to the ringing we call silence, or the shifting song we call a river. If this book proves to be a worthy companion for your own Escalante wanderings, it will have been a success. May you step softly and hear fully. These canyons have more to teach than we can learn. The most we can do is enter with respect, be ready to receive, and--perhaps--emerge in love."
--from Singing Stone: A Natural History of the Escalante Canyons

Additional Publications

Books:

Singing Stone: A Natural History of the Escalante Canyons, University of Utah Press, 1999

Desert Wetlands, University of New Mexico Press, 2005 (with photographs by Lucian Niemeyer)

Selected Articles:

"The mindfulness of natural history," Pages 3-15 in T.L. Fleischner, ed. The Way of Natural History, Trinity University Press, 2011

"Preservation is not enough: The need for courage in wilderness management," pages 236-253 in S.I. Zeveloff, L.M. Vause, and W.H. McVaugh, eds. Wilderness Tapestry: An Eclectic Approach to Preservation, University of Nevada Press, 1992